Strangeland: Disciple Casting Call

Horror Movie, Set To Begin Production Later This Year, Set In The World Of Body Modification

New York, NY (January 29, 2009)—Dee Snider, frontman of heavy metal legends Twisted Sister, is set to begin production on the feature film Strangeland: Disciple later this year, the much-anticipated follow-up to Strangeland (1998), which he wrote and starred in as antagonist Captain Howdy.

His partners in the project, Nehst Studios, have put out an open casting call through http://www.screentest.biz to be a part of the film starring Snider and Robert Englund (Freddie Kruger of the Nightmare On Elm Street series).

“We are conducting a national casting call to find actors and extras to be in the film with Dee,” explains Nehst head Larry Meistrich. “This is the best way for people to audition. The goal of this talent search is to give aspiring actors access to participate and work on a really high-profile project.”

“It’s like a national outreach project,” explains Snider. “We will be looking for talent in the body modification and fetish world. Everywhere I go now, every guy and girl with tattoos and big holes in their ears wants to be in my movie!”

Parts of Strangeland: Disciple will take place in a secret society whose inhabitants party hard and strange at an aptly-named dungeon called The Torture Garden. “It’s a hardcore body modification and fetish scene, filled with all kinds of freaks,” Snider says of the venue. “We’re shooting for an NC-17 rating right out of the box. I want enthusiasts from all over the country to be a part of it!”

DEE SNIDER TO REPRISE HIS ROLE AS CAPTAIN HOWDY IN CULT HORROR CLASSIC STRANGELAND

New York, NY (January 16, 2009)—Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider will reprise his role as Captain Howdy in the 1998 cult horror classic Strangeland when Strangeland: Disciple goes into production later this year.

Snider wrote and co-produced the original film in 1994, pre-dating the cinematic vogue for torture film franchises like Saw and Hostel. “At the time, I really wanted to re-invent the wheel of horror. Horror, traditionally, plays on people’s fears of being chased and dying. That’s totally played out. When you’re being chased, there’s the chance of escape. When you die, there’s peace. What’s much worse than being chased and dying is being helpless and suffering.”

Strangeland is the story of a schizophrenic sexual sadist who lures victims via the Internet, forcing them to submit to ancient tribal rituals. “I came up with the idea of Internet crime before anybody had ever committed Internet crime,” says Snider. “And if I am the father of torture films, I’ve got to come back like a sledgehammer to reclaim my crown!” To that end, Strangeland: Disciple will come complete with an NC-17 rating right out of the box. Obviously, Snider ain’t kidding around. Strangeland: Disciple promises to be ultra-intense, taking place in the underworld of body modification fetishists, amid the secret sado-masochistic freak societies of perverted pleasures that lurk just underneath the veneer of respectable society.

Strangeland was produced in conjunction with The Shooting Gallery, the studio for Sling Blade and Croupier. Larry Meistrich, formerly of The Shooting Gallery, now operates Nehst Pictures and says, “I am very excited to be back in business with Dee Snider again! Strangeland was a great experience and I know the sequel is going to be better than the original. In these days of various platforms merging, it is great to be able to work with someone like Dee who is so multi-faceted.”

The 1998 soundtrack included an incredible array of bands—System Of A Down, Sevendust, Soulfly, Slipknot, Kid Rock, Coal Chamber, Twisted Sister, Megadeth, Marilyn Manson and Pantera—handpicked by Snider. The success of the soundtrack led to a Strangeland tour, which Snider hopes to resurrect once again for Strangeland: Disciple, in an effort to grace the contours of his demented vision. “Music was intrinsic to me in the first one. We really tried to create the ultimate heavy soundtrack. Music will be important to me again for the sequel,” adds Snider.

Returning for revenge in the sequel is Robert Englund (Nightmare On Elm Street’s Freddie Krueger), who called Strangeland a “bona-fide cult hit.” In the original, he played Jackson Roth, one of Captain’s Howdy’s victims.

When originally released, Fangoria magazine called Captain Howdy “a horror icon for the next millennium!” Just wait ‘til you see what he has planned this time around…